Floor maintenance head

ABSTRACT

A FLOOR PAD IS ADHESIVELY SECURED WITHIN A TUBE WHICH IS REMOVABLY ATTACHED TO THE BRUSH OF A FLOOR MAINTENANCE MACHINE, THE FLOOR PAD BEING ROTATABLE BY THE BRUSH. INSTEAD OF THUS ADHESIVELY SECURING THE FLOOR PAD, ANOTHER FORM OF THE INVENTION PERMITS THE FLOOR PAD TO BE PIVOTED WITHIN THE TUBE SO AS TO ALLOW EXPOSURE OF OPPOSING FACES OF THE FLOOR PAD.

Feb.,9, 1971I M. LEoNFoRTE 35615035 I FLOOR MAINTENANCE HEAD I Filed June- 18, 1969 Il Il United States Patent Office 3,561,035 FLOOR MAINTENANCE HEAD Michele Leonforte, 19 Juniper Road, Kings Park, N.Y. 11754 Filed June 18, 1969, Ser. No. 834,348 Int. Cl. A471 .l1/.02, 13/16 U.S. 'Cl. 15-230.19 5 Claims ABSTRACT oF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (l) Field of the invention This invention relates generally to cleaning and polishing equipment and is particularly concerned with means for assembling and disassembling oor pads used in conjunction with iloor maintenance machines.

(2) Description of the prior art Heretofore, it has been customary to employ floor maintenance machines to perform various operations such as polishing, scrubbing and buing. These machines are adapted to perform these tasks by means of a variety of pads which may be aixed to the basic rotatable brush that is incorporated in the oor maintenance machinethe said pads being frictionally engageable with the rotatable brush and drivable thereby.

However, to accomplish this arrangement, relatively complicated pads and associated structures have been employed. As a result, not only do these pads and structures entail the use of a large number of parts but the expense thereof is often excessive. Moreover, the utility of conventional pads is often limited by the fact that only one face thereof is available for use, the remaining face of the pad being disposed so as to be unusable.

The present invention solves these problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a head for floor maintenance equipment, said head comprising an annular pad which is adhe'sively secured to a tubular member that is yieldably conformable and aflixable to a conventional brush such as is employed in floor maintenance machines of the customary kind. The pad is atlxable to said brush by means of frictional engagement with a yieldable band thereon and is removable therefrom as desired by the user.

In a modiled form of the invention, the aforesaid pad, instead of being adhesively secured to the tubular member, is provided with a cup-shaped support having a plurality of tabs which are receivable and securable in suitable slots provided in the tubular member, thereby removably engaging the pad with the tubular member, the latter being engaged with the brush.

In another modified form of the invention, the pad is mounted upon a diametric member which is secured 3,561,035 Patented Feb. 9, 1971 within a tubular member and which may be rotated degrees, as desired, so as to expose opposing faces of the pad for operative use, the tubular member being engageable with the brush.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved head for floor maintenance equipment, which head is of simple and inexpensive design and may be easily installed and removed from conventional floor maintenance equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a head of the character last-described which has improved means for removably engaging the same with conventional floor maintenance equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a head in which opposing faces of the pad employed therein are available for operative use.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a head of the foregoing character which may be expeditiously and eiciently installed, used and removed, with a minimum of skill.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following discussion when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an exploded, cross-sectional, elevational view of one form of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken about the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded, cross-sectional, elevational view of a modified Iform of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, elevational view of the form of the invention depicted in FIG. 3 but showing it in assembled position;

FIG. 5 is an exploded, cross-sectional, elevational view of another modified form of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a view taken about the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Throughout the various views, similar numerals are employed to refer to similar parts of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawing, one embodiment of the invention is employed with the rotary drive shaft 10 of a conventional oor maintenance machine (not shown), which drive shaft 10 is provided with a base 11 preferably having an annular or disc-shaped conformation. A circular brush 12, of conventional form, depends from the base 11.

Flexible, circumferential means, such as a flexible band 13, surmounts the circumferential periphery of the brush 12 and compresses it to a diameter whereby it may be received within the interior 14 of a head or adaptor comprising a cup-shaped support, generally designated by the numeral 15.

As may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cup-shaped support 15 includes a tubular member 16. A plurality of radially disposed adhesive members, such as adhesive tapes 18, 19, depend from the inner circumferential periphery 20 of the tubular member 16. Although two such tapes 18, 19 are depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is to be understood that other radially disposed tapes also may be employed as desired, the tapes forming a substantially planar face, as at 21 of FIG. 1.

A flexible, annular member 22 surmounts the inner circumferential periphery 20 of the tubular member 16 and the portions of the tapes 18, 19 disposed upon the inner circumferential periphery 20. The annular member 22 may be composed of an adhesive tape or other suitable material.

An annular tioor pad 23 is received within the tubular member 16 where it is adhesively secured to the planar face 21, the said floor pad 23 also projecting from the tubular member 16 so as to be available for operative use in the conventional manner. The floor pad 23 is composed of steel wool, leather, liber or other conventional material employed in the scrubbing, polishing, buffing, cleaning and maintenance of oors and other like surfaces.

The cup-shaped support 15 is removably engageable with the band 13 which yieldably conforms with the annular member 22, said band 13 and annular member 22 being frictionally secured with each other during such engagement and permitting the drive shaft to rotate the pad 23 for operative use. When desired, the cupshaped support 15 may be removed from the band 13 so as to permit the employment of other cup-shaped supports provided with other floor pads.

In addition, when desired, the oor pad 23 may be manually removed from the planar face 21 and the lower portion of said floor pad 23 may be placed in abutment with the planar face 21, thereby permitting the balance of the floor pad 23 to be placed in operative use.

A modified form of the invention is depicted in FIG. 3 where a tubular member 24 is frictionally engaged with the base 11 and surmounts the band 13. This tubular member 24 is provided with a plurality of upper and lower slots 25, 26 disposed at angular intervals in the tubular member 24.

As in the case of the form of the invention depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the embodiment of the invention depicted in FIG. 3 includes radially disposed tapes 18, 19 forming a substantially planar face, as at 21, to which a oor pad 23 is adhesively and removably secured. The floor pad 23 is received within a tubular member 28 and projects therefrom so as to be available for operative use. The tubular member 28 is provided with a plurality of flexible tabs 29 depending from the tubular member 28 and adapted to be received removably in the slots 25, 26.

This may be seen more clearly in FIG. 4 which is a fragmentary, elevational view wherein the tubular member 28 is removably engaged with the tubular member 24 so as to permit the drive shaft 10 to rotate the floor pad 23 for operative use. Each tab 29 is disposed outwardly through upper slot 25 and inwardly through lower slot 26, thereby firmly securing the tubular member 28 within the tubular member 24 and avoiding the risk of accidental dislocation thereof. This arrangement permits much higher rotational speeds to be imparted to the tioor pad 23 than is otherwise available in the form of the invention depicted in FIGS. l and 2.

In another modified form of the invention, opposing faces of the floor pad 23 are also available for operative use. As may be seen in FIG. 5, this form of the invention is employed with the drive shaft 10, base 11, brush 12 and circumferential band 13 previously referred to. However, in this form of the invention, a tubular member 30 is provided with a diametric shaft 31 extending through opposing portions of the tubular member 30. The shaft 31 also extends diametrically through a tioor pad 23 received within the tubular -member 30 and projecting therefrom so as to expose a lower face thereof 23a for operative use.

When desired, the floor pad 23 may be rotated, as in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6. When rotated 180 degrees, the other face 23b will be disposed scribed hereinabove have been selected for the purpose of clearly setting forth the principles involved. It will be apparent, however, that the present invention is susceptible to being modified in respect to details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts which may be resorted to without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. An adaptor for attaching an annular pad to a circular brush depending from a base, comprising in combination:

(a) a cup-shaped member including:

(l) a tubular member;

(2) adhesive means depending from said tubular member and having a planar surface disposed transversely of said tubular member;

(b) the annular pad being received within said tubular member and projecting therefrom;

(c) said annular pad abutting against the planar surface of said adhesive means and being removably aixed thereto;

(d) a band surmounting the circumferential peripherery of said circumferential periphery of said circular brush;

(e) said tubular member being removably engageable with said band.

2. A, device according to claim 1, said adhesive means including a plurality of adhesive tapes disposed radially of said tubular member and depending from the inner circumferential periphery of said tubular member.

3. A device according to claim 1, a flexible annular member abutting against the inner circumferential periphery of said tubular member and against said adhesive means.

4. An adaptor for attaching an annular pad to a circular brush depending from an annular base, comprising in combination:

(a) a cup-shaped member including:

(l) a tubular member;

(2) adhesive means depending from said tubular member and having a planar surface disposed transversely of said tubular member;

(b) the annular pad being received Within said tubular member and projecting therefrom;

(c) said annular pad abutting against the planar surface of said adhesive means and being removably aflixed thereto;

(d) a band surmounting the circumferential periphery of said circular brush;

(e) a plurality of flexible tabs depending from said tubular member;

(f) a tubular member surmounting the circumferential peripheries of said annular base and band;

(g) a plurality of slots being provided in said lastmentioned tubular member;

(h) said cup-shaped member being receivable within said last-mentioned tubular member;

(i) said flexible tabs being removably engageable with said slots when said cup-shaped member is received within said last-mentioned tubular member.

5. An adaptor for attaching an annular pad to a circular brush depending from an annular base, comprising in combination:

(a) a tubular member;

(b) the annular pad being received within said tubular member and projecting therefrom;

(c) said annular pad having upper and lower faces;

(d) diametric means depending from said tubular member and engaged with said annular pad;

(e) said annular pad being pivotable upon said diametric means to expose each of said upper and lower faces of the annular pad outwardly of said tubular member;

(f) a band surmounting the circumferential periphery of said circular brush;

(g) said tubular member being removably engageable with the circumferential periphery of said band.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 407,247 7/ 1889 Rogers 51-401 2,286,208 6/ 1942 Kirchner 51-406 2,819,478 1/1958 Sutton 15-230.19X

PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 15-98, 230.12 

